Astronaut Reid Wiseman on the International Space Station snapped this image of auroras over Earth and stated, "the #aurora got even better as we flew into #sunrise ." He also commented that "we can’t stop looking outside" and that the space station was "flying through huge loops of light." The dancing lights of the aurora provide spectacular views on the ground and from the space station, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun. Aurora are one effect of such energetic particles, which can speed out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections.

Look Up! It's International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN), an annual event encouraging people to 'look up' and take notice of the moon. In this image, the brightly lit metropolitan areas of Torino (Italy), Lyon, and Marseille (both in France) stand out amidst numerous smaller urban areas. The full moon reflects brightly on the water surface and also illuminates the tops of low patchy clouds over the border (center). This image was taken by a crew member aboard the International Space Station on April 28, 2010. Crew members orbiting Earth frequently collect images that include sunglint, or sunlight that reflects off a water surface at such an angle that it travels directly back towards the observer. Sunglint typically lends a mirror-like appearance to the water surface. During clear sky conditions reflected light from the moon can produce the same effect (moon glint) as illustrated in this view. The observer was looking towards the southeast at an oblique viewing angle at the time the image was taken; in other words, looking outwards from the station, not straight down towards Earth.

Here's another look at the summer sun and solar flare on Aug. 24, 2014. The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:16 a.m. EDT on Aug. 24. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the flare, which erupted on the left side of the sun. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This flare is classified as an M5 flare. M-class flares are ten times less powerful than the most intense flares, called X-class flares.

"In the pursuit of an idiotic ideology, a very small group of politicians (with no idea about what they are fighting for, let alone the consequences) has shut down our eyes on the Cosmos. This is a reckless act that isn’t just a blip on the radar of knowledge; it will reverberate far beyond the shutdown — hurting science and the inquiring minds who investigate that science — long after the politicians decide to work for the U.S. people again."﻿

Last week, I shared a picture of me sunbathing by my favorite glacial erratic, which is located near the Mervine Family Cabin on Franklin Pierce Lake in New Hampshire. This week, I thought I'd share a few more pictures of glacial erratics on Franklin Pierce Lake. Note the large sizes of these ...

We had a new AC unit installed a year ago. The installers left huge holes in the floor that I had to fill. The system return air ducts were never sealed properly (I finally had to do it myself), and there has always been a stale smell to the air system. What's worse, sometimes the AC system just fails to work. This is a Costco recommended installer, if you can believe it. It cost a small fortune and has been a failure. Right now I'm sitting in a 85-degree house and the AC doesn't work!

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We had a new AC unit installed a year ago. The installers left huge holes in the floor that I had to fill. The system return air ducts were never sealed properly (I finally had to do it myself), and there has always been a stale smell to the air system. What's worse, sometimes the AC system just fails to work. This is a Costco recommended installer, if you can believe it. It cost a small fortune and has been a failure. Right now I'm sitting in a 85-degree house and the AC doesn't work!